VAT on Private school fees – planning ahead

Labour has announced that VAT will apply to private school fees from 1 January 2025 with certain provisions to catch prepayments from 29 July 2024, making it more expensive to attend private schools.

This change will create several challenges for Private schools, chief of which would be to ensure that going forward, they remain financially viable, whilst maintaining the quality of the education they supply.

We examine the implications that this change could have on Private schools, and more importantly, explore a number of actions that they should consider, prior to the release of the new government’s legislation on this.

VAT registration – will there be a requirement to register?

Currently, the provision of education by an eligible body (which includes Private schools) is VAT exempt, therefore, several Private schools will not be registered for VAT unless they have a taxable turnover above the registration threshold (currently £90,000). Therefore, following the potential change in the legislation, a number of Private schools will be expected to register for VAT. It is essential that this issue is dealt with as promptly as possible, as HMRC will impose a VAT penalty in respect of the belated notification of the requirement to register.

When would VAT be accounted for?

In general, a VAT registered taxpayer is expected to account for VAT on its taxable supplies at the earlier of (i)the issue of a VAT invoice; or (ii)the receipt of payment for the supply, whichever comes first. Therefore, following a change in the legislation, Private schools would be required to account for VAT on their fees, based on the above time of supply rule. Therefore, they should consider entering into payment in advance arrangements whereby they offer parents the opportunity to pre-pay school fees in advance. Where this operates, the tax point would be the date of receipt of the payment of fees. When setting up such arrangements they should ensure that the terms and conditions of the scheme gives the best chance of achieving VAT exemption.

Private schools should note that our expectation is that upon any announcement of the change in legislation, anti-forestalling legislation would also be introduced to negate the effect of such arrangements. We would however, not expect this legislation to be introduced with retrospective effect. This means any fee in advance paid prior to announcement of the legislation should still benefit from the VAT exemption. 

Is there scope for recovery of VAT incurred historically?

When taxpayers newly register for VAT, they can recover the VAT amounts incurred on goods and capital assets going back four years before registration, as long as these items are still on hand at registration. They can also recover the VAT incurred on services going back six months before the date of registration.

This entitlement to pre-registration VAT recovery typically does not apply to private schools, except for expenditures that fall within the capital goods scheme. This specifically includes expenditures on land and buildings exceeding £250,000 where VAT was incurred. Following a change in legislation, private schools should review their property portfolio to see if they might recover any VAT incurred historically over the last 10 years. The opportunity for retrospective VAT recovery should remain even if private schools were VAT registered before the change in legislation.

VAT incurred expenditure – what’s the entitlement to recover?

Under current legislation, because their supply of education is VAT exempt, private schools cannot recover a large proportion of the VAT they incur on their expenditure. Following a change in the legislation, VAT-registered private schools would become entitled to recover a significant proportion, if not all, of the VAT they incur. Therefore, private schools should review how their expenditure is recorded in their accounting system to ensure they can capture and recover the VAT incurred.

They should conduct a modelling exercise to determine the financial implications of the change. This exercise should consider the significant amounts of VAT incurred on expenditures such as maintenance, building works, agents’ fees, legal fees, accountants’ fees, and other professional expenses. It should also take into account the potential for VAT recovery on these expenditures. Additionally, the modelling exercise should consider the entitlement to recover VAT incurred on both capital and revenue expenditure.

Is there scope for VAT on fees to be absorbed?

Given it is the parents that ultimately bear the burden of the change in legislation when they pay the VAT chargeable on the school fees following a change in legislation, the outcome of the modelling exercise mentioned above should assist Private schools to determine how much of the VAT they incur on expenditure can be recovered and therefore, the extent to which they might be able to absorb the VAT chargeable on Private school fees by not passing the full VAT amount chargeable on to the parents.

How we can help

Based on the above, it is clear the change to the VAT treatment of Private school fees presents some challenges for proprietors within the sector, as well as VAT recovery opportunities in circumstances where those challenges as appropriately managed.

If you have any questions about VAT, then please contact us on 01903 234094 to speak to a member of our tax team.